Book will celebrate Cascade’s distinguished sports history

Fifty years ago, Everett’s Cascade High School was getting ready to graduate its first class of seniors.

Now, a half-century later, a longtime Cascade teacher and coach is preparing a book to celebrate the school’s long and distinguished sports history.

And he needs your help.

Steve Bertrand, a Cascade alum, is working on “Bleeding Crimson and Gray: A 50-year Sports History of Cascade High School.” The book, which is scheduled for spring publication, is a decade-by-decade look at Cascade teams, athletes and coaches.

Among the many names you can expect to read about are Vicki Borsheim, a 1984 graduate who went on to the University of Washington track team, where she was a two-time NCAA All-American and remains the UW record holder in the high jump (6 feet, 23/4 inches); Chris Henderson, a 1989 graduate who played 11 seasons in Major League Soccer and was a longtime member of the U.S. national team; Grady Sizemore, a 2000 graduate and multi-sport star who just completed his eighth season in major league baseball; and Whitney Hooks, a 2006 graduate who won four state track and field titles in the shot put and two more in the discus.

Cascade has “a lot of history, and there’s a lot of teams and people that have done some neat things,” said Bertrand, who teaches PE and music, and is also the school’s head cross country coach and co-head track and field coach.

Bertrand, a 1974 Cascade graduate, is busily gathering information and photos for the book, but knows he needs much more than what is available at the school.

“It’s amazing how much gets lost over time,” he said. “So we need photos of teams and players and coaches, along with any stories that people have about what happened here over the last 50 years and what they think might be interesting to others.”

In short, he said, “We’re looking for photos and stories.”

The book, Bertrand explained, will ideally include the contributions of many people. “I don’t see myself as the author,” he said. “I see myself as more of a compiler.”

Cascade opened in the fall of 1960 — students originally attended nearby Evergreen Middle School before later moving to the current high school campus — and it served not only south Everett in the early years, but also much of Mukilteo and unincorporated Snohomish County, including what would later incorporate to become Mill Creek.

Today, three newer high schools — Mariner, Kamiak and Jackson — are part of the area once served solely by Cascade. “We’re talking about a rather large geographic area,” Bertrand said.

Cascade was once the biggest high school in the state by enrollment, and over the years it has certainly produced a large number of outstanding athletes. Many of them, Bertrand said, deserve to be recognized in the book.

“It was very interesting to me, when I started this research, to see the conference, district and state championships that Cascade High School has accrued over a 50-year history,” he said. “And that it continues to add to. So there is a rich legacy … and it’s important that we stop and take a look at the people — the athletes, the coaches and the teams — that have left that legacy for the school.”

Proceeds from the sale of “Bleeding Crimson and Gray: A 50-year Sports History of Cascade High School,” will go to help fund the purchase and installation of a synthetic football and soccer field at the school, Bertrand said.

How to help

Steve Bertrand, who is writing a book about the sports history at Cascade High School titled “Bleeding Crimson and Gray: A 50-year Sports History of Cascade High School,” is seeking pictures and stories from the community.

Bertrand can be reached by email at stevekbertrand@gmail.com or sbertrand@everettsd.org; by regular mail at Steve Bertrand, Cascade High School, 801 E. Casino Road, Everett, WA, 98203. He can also be contacted by cell phone at 425-530-2732.